The Ladies Room—Dalmatia Flemming

“Sweetie, you’re right” Bobbi said in her southern drawl. “Are those cords?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, sweetie, those are just cute as can be. How are you doing today, by the way?”

“Great, it’s payday!”

“Yes! And mine’s already spent!”

“Well, I’m sure you can find a little extra to have fun with.”

“I will, I will … you have a nice day now sweetie.”

“OK, you too.”

Amy couldn’t help but notice the tall blonde woman preening in front of the mirror as she was leaving The Ladies Room. Someone Amy had not seen before.

The Ladies Room, visited by women from different work groups and organizations every day. Amy actually had some “Ladies Room Friends”, women that she didn’t work with, who were not in her organization, but while lingering for a short time in said room, would chit chat a little and eventually become “friends”.

The Men’s Room, on the other hand, did not operate in the same way. This was a place void of communication or lingering.

Amy went back to her desk and settled in to work. Bobbi, what a riot. Super nice lady. That Southern drawl; in small doses it was charming. But at one time Bobbi sat right across the divider in the next cube row from Amy. Bobbi would talk endlessly and that drawl was about all that Amy could take at times. Amy would sometimes have to put in ear plugs so that she could concentrate.

The Ladies Room…
There was the sick pregnant lady. The first stall in one of the two rows of stalls was labeled with a handicapped symbol. One day in Amy’s presence, a young woman ran in with a paper towel covering her mouth and puked in the handicapped stall. Everyone present in The Ladies Room at this time looked at one another with concern. After some time, not very long at all, it became the unwritten code of The Ladies Room to never use the handicapped stall; to always leave it available for the pregnant lady should she need it. And she was not getting any better; this went on for nine months. Poor thing. Can you imagine?!

Then there was Laurie, obviously in distress as she practically cornered Amy in The Ladies Room. Apparently Laurie was dating a guy from work and had allowed him to take some photos of her in and around a waterfall, naked. She had to find out if Amy had seen these photos or had heard of anyone discussing them. Amy assured her that she had not. Lucky for Laurie, this was in the days before the internet, if not, the photos would have already gone viral!
Then there was the young lady Amy found slumped in the corner crying so hard she was gasping for breath because she had just found out that her grandmother had passed away. Her Grandmother had been like a mother to her. Amy tried as best she could to console her.

Then there was the time that, as Amy entered the Ladies Room, she could see in her peripheral vision that someone entered behind her. She turned to look over her shoulder to see that it was a man. It was Steve / Stephanie, however on this day he just looked like a guy with long hair. He was in the process of changing genders, so Amy had heard. He had been seen at the local shopping mall after work walking around dressed as a woman. Anyway, Amy was a little startled at first, but then decided that it didn’t matter.

Then there was the time that Amy was the protagonist in her own Ladies Room vignette. After having “Montezuma’s Revenge” for two days, Amy thought it was safe to return to work. Turns out it wasn’t and around mid day Amy found herself shaking, feeling as weak as a kitten and unable to concentrate. She headed to The Ladies Room to lie down on the couch for awhile. Jenny from her group just happened to enter. Amy sent Jenny on a mission to bring her some “Red Vines” from the vending machine, a little pure sugar as a temporarily fix for the situation. Jenny did even more than that, she called Medical as well. A short time later, a couple of women arrived. With one standing on each side of Amy practically holding her up, they escorted her over to medical for some Imodium and rest.
Then there were the numerous times, too many to count, that The Ladies Room provided a source of gossip, that’s no surprise, but also provided a source of official company information, before Amy heard it from what one would think should be the proper source.
Time for a meeting. Amy checked her calendar to verify the room number, grabbed her notebook and headed out. There was that blond woman in the hallway; Amy passed her.

After the meeting, Amy stopped by The Ladies Room on the way back to her desk. As Amy entered the blond woman was exiting. They smiled at one another and said hi. Amy was starting to think that she recognized this woman. But from where?

Amy returned to her desk and settled in, trying to figure out where she had left off with her work. Suddenly it hit her; Amy realized she had seen the blond woman before. It was Steve / Stephanie except that this time she looked like Miss Perfect!